Cooking Casebook: Baked fish in lemon cream sauce

These days I've been trying to cook more fish. I'm not much of a fan of fish, I think mainly because I was "forced" to eat a lot of fish during my first two confinements. However, the hubs and the kids love fish, and I have been trying to widen my repertoire of fish dishes.

Thus far, I've only learnt how to do the usual Teochew-style steamed fish, and I struggle with getting fish cooked just right when using the oven (I've been known to cook my fish to death, heh). So I've been experimenting with various baked fish dishes, and recently tried this recipe. The sauce turned out pretty amazing (but I overcooked the fish, because I miscalculated the time!), so I thought  the recipe it was worth tweaking and sharing here!

This dish is great for busy days where you want a light, yet filling meal, and I usually pair the fish with baked vegetables. I toss the veggies (potatoes, onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, etc) with olive oil, salt, rosemary, thyme and a dash of balsamic vinegar, and bake them in the oven at the same time while the fish is cooking, and the veggies are ready in about 35 minutes or so. 

Baked Fish in Lemon Cream Sauce

(Serves 2-3)

Ingredients

2 x fish fillets (we use red snapper fillets)

50g unsalted butter

1/4 cup heavy cream 

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 shallot, minced

1.5 tbsp lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Parsley and lemon slices to serve (optional)

Method
1. Preheat oven to 200ºC. Wash and pat dry the fillets (Note: The fillets must be totally defrosted if frozen, and as dry as possible, as the water content in the fish affects the sauce). Season with salt and pepper.

2. Place the fillets in the buffet casserole (or a baking dish), while melting the butter. Add melted butter, cream, minced garlic and lemon juice into a small pot. Heat gently while stirring, until ingredients are well mixed. (Taste, and add salt to the sauce if you wish.) Pour the sauce over the fish.

3. Sprinkle the minced shallots over the fillets, then bake for 10-12 minutes, or until fish is cooked through (the time depends on how thick your fillets are, ours were baked for 11 minutes).

4. Remove from oven, and transfer the fillets onto plates. Serve with the sauce, along with parsley and lemon slices.

Tips

1. Fish tastes awful if cold, so keep the casserole covered if not serving the fish immediately.

2. The Le Creuset buffet casserole distributes the heat well for even cooking, and the fish will be moist and tender if not overcooked. However, a baking dish will also do.

PS: This post is the seventh in a series of posts written in collaboration with Le Creuset Singapore. You can find the entire series of posts here.